In 1799, he obtained his medical doctorate from the University of Leipzig, where he was later an associate professor of natural history (1803–1815) and afterwards a full professor on the same subject (1815–1852).
Concurrently, he served as an associate professor of botany (1807–1852) at Leipzig.
[1] Prior to 1837, he was director of the botanical garden at Leipzig, being succeeded by Gustav Kunze, a specialist in the field of pteridology.
Schwägrichen died on 2 May 1853 as the result of a fall down a flight of stairs.
[1][2] He is the taxonomic authority of the bryophyte families Polytrichaceae[3] and Funariaceae.